by B. T. Narro
“Reuben isn’t all bad,” I had to say. “He helped me deliver some justice.”
“Yes, to help a beautiful girl who Reuben has bragged about to Kataleya. Apparently, he has a romantic meeting set up with her for when we can finally leave this place safely. He sure has improved, Jon,” she said sarcastically.
I still believed he was changing. I saw the good in him. He just needed more guidance, not that I was the one to give it to him. Not that Leon was, either. I didn’t know where it would come from, but hopefully it would.
“Do you know what a deninger is?” I asked.
“A dark mage of order.”
So a mixture of dteria and ordia.
“Why?” Eden asked.
“Willelma mentioned one, casually in fact. She also told me she thought the king was stupid.”
“She sounds like the stupid one.”
“Yes, I think she is. I mean literally.”
“Dumb and rich,” Eden said. “The worst combination.”
“I hope she can at least fight decently.”
“She hasn’t fought anyone or anything in her life. None of the sorcerers have. They learned one spell and are going to milk it dry until they’re squeezing out dust.”
I understood Eden’s frustration, but she seemed to be bordering on hatred.
“Has a sorcerer done something to you personally?” I asked.
“No,” she said.
“Well, I imagine an ice mage could prove valuable to many citizens, not just the rich. Freezing meat and other perishables should be desired by the lowest farmhand to the wealthiest noble. I’m sure she charges more than she needs, but people wouldn’t hire her if they didn’t agree on her price.”
“I’m not just talking about sorcerers.” Eden looked at me as if considering something. “Never mind. Aren’t you going to use your new ordia spell on your sword?”
It still took a bit of focus and concentration before I could cast Identify on anything, but I was glad Eden wasn’t offended about me checking her work. I used the spell. A direct thought entered my mind. My sword was sturdier now.
“Do enchantments wear off?” I asked.
“They do wear off over time, or when the enchanter dies.”
“So they are like a curse?”
She nodded. “Jennava has said so.”
I hadn’t had much contact with Jennava. She spent more time with Charlie and Eden indoors than with the rest of us who practiced in the courtyard.
I did find it interesting that an enchantment seemed to be tied to the enchanter in the same way a curse was tied to the witch or warlock. That implied that an enchantment was living mana, just like a curse. It would also explain how this “deninger” could dissolve a binding contract, which was a form of an enchantment, I presumed. That probably meant that a deninger could also destroy other enchantments, including illusions.
And on a darker note, it seemed to imply that the contracts binding us to protect the king would be dissolved if Barrett was killed.
“So, more about Michael,” Eden began.
I felt that I could only do more damage than help my friend. I took a page out of Kataleya’s book.
“Oh look, the Stormeagles are arriving.”
Jennava had actually brought them into the courtyard a little while ago.
“Oh yes, how astute of you to notice them right when you don’t want to answer my question.”
“I better go say hello to Calvin.” I sheathed my sword and hurried out of her room.
I recognized the faces of many of the Stormeagles, but it was only Calvin who I had gotten to know. He was one of the younger men in the group of sellswords, though he was still at least a few years older than me. He sported a light beard, his hair loose and hanging down around his forehead and ears. He always appeared relaxed to me. He didn’t look as if he lived carefree, though; it was as if he had learned how to manage his worries. A skill I would love to learn.
“It’s good to see you, Jon.”
“You as well.” We shook hands.
He squinted. “Actually, you don’t look so good. Everything all right?”
It was probably from my constant exhaustion. “Yeah, just…problems, as I’m sure you know.”
All of Lycast had heard of Cason by now.
“I’m sure the dark mages will be stopped soon.”
It was disappointing not to hear him take personal responsibility for stopping them. “Aren’t you against them as much as I am?” I asked. Calvin had mentioned his hatred for Cason and dark mages before the battle in Curdith Forest. The Stormeagles had lost some members during an ambush.
“Of course I am.”
“Has the king spoken to your leader about your group joining the army?”
Calvin looked over his shoulder at one of the older men I assumed to be the leader. He put his arm behind my shoulder and led me away from the group, most of whom remained standing near the open portcullis. That is, until the portcullis started to close, the drawbridge rising to cut off entrance.
So everyone was already here who had come to defend the castle against this unlikely attack. Besides the usual plethora of guards in and around the castle, there was just one other group of sellswords here besides the Stormeagles. They were large men, heavily armored. Some of them looked familiar. They’d probably joined us in the forest to face the dark mages from Rohaer, but I hadn’t fought beside them like I had the Stormeagles.
Calvin noticed me looking. “The Freemen,” he said. “A bunch of meatheads.”
“What don’t you want your leader to hear?” I asked.
“It’s not that I don’t want him to hear,” Calvin said. “I just don’t want to deal with him if he does. He doesn’t know you.”
“Didn’t he fight with us in the forest?”
“We’ve fought beside many men who we don’t know very well.”
“He can’t possibly think I might be with Cason?”
“No, not that,” Calvin said. “I don’t think you’re aware of…how do I put this? Certain things.”
“What things? You have to give me a hint.”
“Our relation to the king’s army, or lack thereof.”
“Oh.”
He was probably right. The more I thought about the confusing situation that our king was in, the more I realized that I didn’t know much.
“I hope you can clarify these things for me.”
Calvin nodded. “There is no army to join right now. Sure, the king has people like yourself who he pays for their loyalty, but you and the other sorcerers are pretty much the whole army right now, not including the city and castle guards. I’m not sure if Nykal Lennox has been keeping this from you and the other sorcerers on purpose, or he just doesn’t see the reason to tell you, but he could’ve had a large army. It was his decision to dissolve the army after Oquin Calloum’s forces were killed and the late king was hung. I was part of that army. All of the Stormeagles were. Dteria was spreading through Lycast quickly. Rather than stop it, the previous king was inciting hatred and aggression against many groups of people who opposed the dark mages. Something had to be done. We were all glad when Nykal emerged as a leader in the rebellion.”
“I have heard about this, but I didn’t know that he dissolved the army afterward.”
“He pretty much had to. He spent everything he had and borrowed even more to pay for an army large enough to defeat Oquin’s army. When the dust settled, he didn’t have the coin to maintain the army. Rather than heavily taxing the people of Lycast to support the army, he dissolved it. Soon he announced his intention to start a new, small army of loyal soldiers which would eventually grow, but things got out of hand quickly as dteria continued to spread. He couldn’t afford the number of troops he needed to face all the dark mages left over from the rebellion, including Cason. The best he could do was promise us he would pay for our service when it was necessary but that we should find our own means of employment by taking on tasks for the good people of Lycast
. That’s exactly what we were doing before the rebellion, and it’s exactly what we ended up doing after.”
I had always known the king didn’t have the kinds of funds he desired, but this made him sound downright poor.
“He can’t possibly have such little coin.”
“No he doesn’t,” Calvin agreed. “He must have a lot, some of which was usurped from the last king who most likely hid his coin and jewels in the castle. I have to assume it’s been found. But no matter how much Nykal had leftover and how much he’s obtained since his coronation, he still doesn’t have enough to maintain an army that would be large enough to defend Lycast from Rohaer’s troops. So the king has taken another route of defense. He’s focused on sorcerers of a very specific nature….”
“Cheap ones,” I added, picking up on his hint. “Desperate ones,” I added. “Almost all of us had no future ahead of us. It would’ve taken many years, if it happened at all, for us to learn enough sorcery to find work by using our spells. This is something I’ve figured out in my time here, even if much else of what you said was news to me.”
“Then you do know at least some of what’s going on. But are you aware that the king cannot wait for Rohaer to attack? Lycast would surely fall if he did, no matter how strong you and the other sorcerers become.”
“So what are you saying he’s planning?”
“I have no idea, but I don’t want to be a part of it without finding out first. Joining his small army means pledging loyalty.”
“Wouldn’t you want to fight for Lycast no matter what the risk?”
He laughed. “No, Jon, I wouldn’t. Not everyone is you. I value my freedom.”
I didn’t have a response to that.
“I don’t mean any offense,” Calvin added. “You are admirable, but it is not the life I would choose. The king has attempted to recruit the Stormeagles, and he’s invited the Freemen to join his army as well. But every group of sellswords prefers the current arrangement until we know the odds of getting our heads chopped off. We control our risk this way. Frankly, we make more money as well.”
I was surprised to find out that even Calvin, who I thought cared about stopping the dark mages as much as I did, seemed to care more about money and safety than ensuring men like Cason were stopped.
Was I really the only one who would fight no matter the risk? I mean, what was the alternative? Giving up when the odds were not in our favor? I didn’t understand how anyone could live with themselves when giving up meant allowing dteria to thrive.
“What kind of services do the Stormeagles perform besides accepting jobs from the king?”
“In the capital? Mostly escorting trade caravans to other towns and offering protection for noble families. Sometimes our agents find work for us elsewhere, catching thieves, mostly, but rapists and murderers as well. Those tend to pay the best.”
“Isn’t all of that the king’s responsibility?”
“The king has been primarily focused on Newhaven since his coronation. He defers much of the responsibility of the land around the city to his nobles, who often defer to others. Sometimes it’s these nobles, or the men they defer to, who hire sellswords like us. In small villages, however, it’s up to the people themselves to put their coin together when they want a group of mercenaries to help them.”
I was shocked again. It was hard to imagine Calvin taking from people who had to pool their coin together just to get the protection they needed.
“I think I made it sound worse than it is,” he said, no doubt noticing my disapproving expression. “We don’t take a lot of jobs in small villages, but it’s important for us to be ready to, just in case we’re needed there. Sometimes it’s the threat of a group like us coming to a village or even a town that will stop a crime from occurring. The threat of justice is the best protection of all, because it prevents rather than punishes. The kingdom needs us.”
“Yes, but if you were employed by the king in his army, you would be just as threatening to the criminals.”
“Maybe after enough of us are hired, but it would take hundreds of troops for the king to adequately protect everyone in the three major cities of Lycast alone. He would have to employ many more to extend this protection to the large towns, and even more to reach the small ones. The threat wouldn’t be a threat until years have gone by during which the king has proven that criminals in even the small villages will be caught. But for now, Nykal can only focus on the capital because Cason is here and likely to act soon, as I’m sure you’re aware.”
I was glad that Calvin was so knowledgeable. I had always prided myself on learning everything I could, my father often boasting that I was a quick study no matter the subject. But I had been slow since coming here at fully grasping this dire situation. It was partly because the king had been so secretive about many aspects, but the answers were there. I just hadn’t taken the time or effort to search for them.
So the army was basically a group of guards managed by Byron, none of whom had any skill with sorcery. And then there was us, of course. That was pretty much it.
It sounded like noble families these days most likely watched over the city of Tryn, where my father used to work for Byron. And Koluk seemed to be completely on its own, as were the small towns, especially the smaller places like Bhode, where I came from. There wasn’t any crime that I could recall growing up there, but my father did mention that there was a thief who was caught when I was younger. Apparently, it was up to the people of Bhode to catch and punish this thief. I was too young to remember what happened to him. If it was gruesome, my father probably hadn’t told me.
He’d hidden a lot from me.
“If you know Cason is likely to act soon, that’s all the more reason for you to remain in the capital and help us during these times.”
Calvin smiled forgivingly. “That’s exactly what we’re doing. We haven’t left Newhaven since the battle in Curdith Forest.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
I should’ve taken the time to ask others, like Calvin, about the inner workings of the capital. Even Eden had taught me a lot in the short time I’d spoken to her, though I could’ve done without her cynicism.
I noticed a few of the Stormeagles seemed to be fawning over Willelma, as three of them were crowded around her. She didn’t seem at all bothered by the attention.
Calvin must’ve noticed me looking. “I hope you aren’t going to turn out like these other sorcerers,” he said.
“I’ve heard that none of them cares about anything besides coin and their reputation. But you must’ve met at least a few who aren’t like that?”
“Sorcery is rare, Jon. That makes the strong ones think even more highly of themselves.”
So Eden could be right after all.
“Most of the ones I’ve met were during a conflict,” Calvin continued. “But I’m usually there because I’ve been paid to stop them. It’s always a dark mage I have to kill, never a sorcerer of erto, and especially not one of ordia or dvinia. I don’t believe I’ve ever met one of those unless you count the witch we killed who was cursing people with ordia and dteria.”
“But it hasn’t always been like this, has it?”
“No. I know of men whose grandfathers have spoken about what sorcery used to be like. Dteria has always been around, but it was a rare form of sorcery. Never has it spread like this.”
“Are there any possible answers as to why it suddenly started spreading so quickly?”
“Others talk about the demigods’ influence and war among each other,” he said casually. “But no one knows for certain what it really is.”
Suddenly, there was a lot of shushing and stirring.
“Everyone gather here!” announced the king.
He stood outside the keep to his castle. We moved to encircle him.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
There were about thirty of us in the courtyard. Eden had come out of the apartments to stand beside me and Calvin. A great number of archer
s stood on the walkways—atop the circular wall surrounding the castle. All I could think about was how much this would cost the king, and there might not even be a fight.
“Gather here!” the king repeated, as the last few guards on the outskirts of the courtyard huddled in with the rest of us. “You all have been brought here because there is a small chance that the castle might come under attack. Only the dark mages who are strong enough to lift themselves over the wall could reach us. I will now assign stations to everyone until this threat has passed and the rest of my sorcerers have returned. However, my sorcerers out there might need support, in which case the drawbridge will be lowered. The Stormeagles, Jon, and Willelma are to rush to the premises of Luther Prigg in this case. He is being arrested for treason as we speak.”
Murmurs spread. Calvin had a wide-eyed look as he glanced at me as if to silently ask if this was really true. I nodded.
“Everyone else is to remain at your station until you are dismissed,” Nykal said. “You all will be paid, some now and the rest later. The amount of the second payment depends on whether you are required to defend the castle.”
He produced two bulging coin purses. One large older man went to collect one, while the leader of the Stormeagles, who Calvin had pointed out to me, fetched the other. The king walked back to his keep, a guard opening the door for him. The same guard closed it and locked it after his majesty had entered. I figured the inside of the keep would be barred as well as locked.
I watched as Calvin’s leader counted the coins and eventually flicked one from his thumb to Calvin. The gold of the coin flashed as the sun hit it just right. Calvin caught it and slipped it into his pocket.
A gold coin for coming here, one to all ten of the Stormeagles. The king might even give them another ten when this is done. Twenty gold coins was equivalent to the cumulative stipend of five of my peers, and that was for a week of service.